Throughout the history of the world, the average person on earth has been extremely poor: subsisting on the modern equivalent of $3 per day. This was true until 1800, at which point average wages—and standards of living—began to rise dramatically. Prof. Deirdre McCloskey explains how this tremendous increase in wealth came about. In the past 30 years alone, the number of people in the world living on less than $3 per day has been halved. The cause of the economic growth we have witnessed in the past 200 years may surprise you. It’s not exploitation, or investment. Innovation—new ideas, new inventions, materials, machinery, organizational structures—has fueled this economic boom. Prof. McCloskey explains how changes in Holland and England in the 1600s and 1700s opened the door for innovation to take off—starting the growth that continues to benefit us today.

As technological developments increased farm yields over the last two centuries, the share of the US population employed in agriculture fell from around 90 percent to around 2 percent.

The lay American public supposes that when workers lose their jobs, we become worse off — they suffer from what economist Bryan Caplan calls the ‘make-work’ bias. But would anyone prefer to live in a society in which many went hungry and no one enjoyed the wealth, financial security, job growth, and innovation created as all those workers lost their farm jobs?

Follow Caplan, author of The Myth of the Rational Voter, as he explains the gap between the public’s opinion and the economist’s facts. In this video, Caplan talks about the merits and demerits of ‘making work’ – instead of letting individuals find work.

► Learn More:

Frederic Bastiat contends that to aim to increase the proportion of effort to output is to imitate Sisyphus in his hopeless attempt to move a stone up a hill:

The environmental agenda has been infected by extremism—it’s become an economic suicide pact. And we’re here to challenge it. On Earth Day, visit http://www.freemarketamerica.org.

We all know why the Watermelons (Green outside, red inside) want America to fail. A failed state is ripe for totalitarian takeover. Just ask the Germans, the Russians, the Chinese, the Cubans, the Venezuelans, the Vietnamese, the Rhodesians (if you can find any), soon the Argentinians. and on and on and on.

And to remind you of how long the Watermelon totalitarians and their media accomplices have been working on this:
From Newsweak (sic) April, 28, 1975

Zo examines a liberal meme that blames conservatives and credits liberals for a list of policies and issues in American history.

Zo also points to the cowardice of democrats trying to throw people off the scent of their rotten history by trying to switch labels to stigmatize conservatives. Are you going to let democrats twist and paint what conservatism is?

Part Two: Switching Labels and Telling Fables

Zo continues with his examination of a liberal meme that blames conservatives and credits liberals for a list of policies and issues in American history.

Zo further points out the cowardice of democrats trying to This is part 3 of 4 of Zo’s examination of a liberal meme that blames conservatives and credits liberals for a list of policies and issues in American history. Zo also points out more of the cowardice of democrats trying to throw people off the scent of their rotten history by trying to switch labels to stigmatize conservatives. Are you going to let democrats twist and paint what conservatism is? Here more in this ZoNation!throw people off the scent of their rotten history, by trying to switch labels to stigmatize conservatives.

Are you going to let democrats twist and paint what conservatismis? Here more in this ZoNation!

Part Three: It’s the Republicans Fault That Democrats Oppress You

This is part 3 of 4 of Zo’s examination of a liberal meme that blames conservatives and credits liberals for a list of policies and issues in American history. Zo also points out more of the cowardice of democrats trying to throw people off the scent of their rotten history by trying to switch labels to stigmatize conservatives. Are you going to let democrats twist and paint what conservatism is? Here more in this ZoNation!

Part Four: ‘Hey Democrats–I Can Still See You Behind You Label Switching

Zo wraps up his examination of a liberal meme that is as close as Zo wants to get to a colonoscopy (considering how full of crap this meme is). Its a meme that blames conservatives and credits liberals for a list of policies and issues in American history. Zo also points the cowardice of democrats trying to throw people off the scent of their rotten history by trying to switch labels to stigmatize conservatives. Are you going to let democrats twist and paint what conservatism is? Here more in this ZoNation!

Experience the creative energy and conservative insight that Zo delivers in every show. Click here to buy the ZoNation Complete Series Collection: http://bit.ly/ZoNationCompleteSeries

Markets are much more than multinational corporations, banking firms, and stock brokerages on Wall Street, though all of those things are the result of a market system.Sound economies, from the biggest multinational banks to a childs sidewalk lemonade stand, operate on the principles of private property and exchange. These concepts are the building blocks of free societies, and it is the system of countless small trades, taken as a whole, that we call “the market.”It is important to note that these trades are positive sum win-win situations: each party agrees to a trade because they value what theyre getting more than what theyre giving up.And when those trades are voluntary–when nothing is preventing people from making trades or forcing people to make trades–that results in a free market, which makes everyone healthier, wealthier, more peaceful, and more technologically advanced.Thats what libertarians mean when they defend the free market.

If we each have a boxed lunch with the same sandwich, chips, a pickle, and a cookie, why would we consider trading items? Perhaps I prefer chips and you prefer cookies. Maybe I’ll give you my cookie for your chips. Now both of us are happier with our lunches. This is one example of how exchange can make people better off even without increasing the total amount of wealth. Exchange helps correct mistakes in allocation and it makes everyone involved happier. Professor Michael C. Munger offers a few examples of how exchange can make people happier whether people have the same preferences or different preferences, the same stuff to start with or different stuff. The ability to make people better off by simple exchange may seem like magic, Munger says, but it’s just markets.

John Allison is the President and CEO of the Cato Institute. Prior to joining Cato, Allison was Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation, the 10th largest financial services holding company headquartered in the United States. During his tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. He was recognized by the Harvard Business Review as one of the top 100 most successful CEOs in the world over the last decade.

Allison has received the Corning Award for Distinguished Leadership, been inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Banker. He is a former Distinguished Professor of Practice at Wake Forest University School of Business, and serves on the Board of Visitors at the business schools at Wake Forest, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

Allison is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his master’s degree in management from Duke University, and is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking.